Comments

Revised Common Lectionary Commentary

Clippings:
Fourth Sunday in Lent - March 31, 2019

Saint Dominiccontemplating the Scriptures

Author's note:Sometimes I have material left over when I edit Comments down to
fit the available space. This page presents notes that landed on the clipping
room floor. Some may be useful to you. While I avoid technical language
in the Comments (or explain special terms), Clippings may have unexplained
jargon from time to time.

A hypertext Glossary of Terms is integrated with Clippings. Simply
click on any highlighted word in the text and a pop-up window will appear
with a definition. Bibliographic references are also integrated in the
same way.

Joshua 5:9-12

Note that the place is “Gibeath-haaraloth” (Hill of Foreskins
) in v.
3 [
CAB] and “Gilgal” in vv.
9 and
10. It appears probable that two strands of tradition have been combined: vv.
2-8 and vv.
9-12.

Verses 2-9: Exodus
12:44-48 states that only males who are circumcised may celebrate the Passover.
At one time, circumcision was a common practice in the ancient Near East: Jeremiah
9:25-26 provides list of countries where it was practised: “... Egypt,
Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the
desert ...”. It became a sign of Israel’s unique relationship to God:
God’s covenant with Abraham is sealed by circumcision: see Genesis
17:11-13. [
NOAB] Circumcision was obligatory for Israelites by the time Leviticus
12:3, part of the
Priestly (P) code, was written. [
CAB]

Verse 2: “circumcise ... a second time”:
NJBC says that sit down and circumcise is the original wording, and that
“a second time” is a
gloss: the Hebrew words for sit down and again (literally return
) differ only in the vowel (which was not written).

Verse 2: “flint knives”: The use of flint knives recalls Moses’
wife, Zipporah, circumcising her son with a flint knife: see Exodus
4:25-26. By Joshua’s time, the Israelites were in the Iron Age and would
generally have used metal instruments. This verse recalls a usage dating back to
Stone Age times. [
CAB] Obtaining a sharp edge on flint is much easier than on iron.

Verse 6: “milk and honey”: The “milk” was from
sheep or goats; the “honey” was grape juice reduced to a molasses-like
syrup. It was usually fermented. [
NJBC]

Verse 9: “Gilgal”: This place appears to be between the Jordan
and Jericho. Its exact location is unknown.[CAB]

Verse 9: “disgrace”:
NJBC notes that “disgrace” and lack of circumcision are associated
in Genesis
34:14, part of the story of the rape of Dinah; however
JBC suggests that the word in Hebrew may have been changed slightly in copying.
He suggests that the original word may have meant flint knives.

Verse 11: The law governing the Festival of Unleavened Bread is found
in two places: Exodus
23:15 and Exodus
34:18. The wording is similar. The latter verse says: “You shall keep the
festival of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded
you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came
out from Egypt”. [
NJBC]

Verse 11: “On the day after the passover”: This phrase is
in the
Masoretic Text but is not in the
Septuagint. This addition was made by an editor after the festivals of
Passover and Unleavened Bread were combined. Once combined, the former began
on the fourteenth day and the latter on the fifteenth. By adding “On the day
after the passover” scribes avoided the inference that Passover began on the
fourteenth. [
NJBC]

Verse 11: “parched grain”: Or roasted grain. This is
the only reference to grain being part of the Festival. It is not found in later
practice. [
JBC]

Verse 12: Exodus
16:35 contains a similar repetition: “The Israelites ate manna forty years,
until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border
of the land of Canaan”. [
NJBC]

Psalm 32

Superscription: “Of David”: The Hebrew words can also be interpreted
as meaning by, about or for David. [
JBC]

Superscription: “Maskil”: Scholars are unsure of the meaning
of this term. It may relate to the manner of a psalm’s performance and/or a
class of composition. The latter hypothesis is supported by the use of other apparent
class names in parallel fashion above other psalms. This term appears above 13 psalms.
[
HBD]

This is a
wisdom psalm. See vv.
1-2 and
8-10 for wisdom features. [
NJBC] It is one of the seven traditional penitential psalms. [
JBC]

Verse 1: “covered”: For covering sin, where God is
the subject, meaning taking sin away, see also Nehemiah
4:5 (“Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out
from your sight”) and 1 Peter
4:8. [
NJBC]

Verses 3-5: In antiquity, the admission of sin usually took the form of
a recounting of one’s sins in general terms: see Ezra
9:6-15;
10:1; Nehemiah
1:6-11. [
NJBC]

Verses 3-4:
18:4-6 also tell of a psalmist’s grave illness: “The cords of death
encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled
me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the
Lord; to my God I cried for help”. [
NOAB]

Verses 4,7: “Selah” : This is probably a liturgical direction,
added to the original text of the psalm. It may mean lift up, either to indicate
the lifting up of the voices of the singers in a doxology, or to call for lifted-up
instrumental music in an interlude in the singing. [
NOAB]

Selah is one of the greatest puzzles of the Old Testament. Its meaning seems
to be connected with rising or lifting. But it is not clear whether the congregation
rises or lifts up its hands, head, or eyes, or whether the music rises at the indicated
points. The word probably indicates that the singing should stop to allow the congregation
an interlude for presenting its homage to God by some gesture or act of worship.
[
ICCPs]

Selah is also found 74 times in 39 psalms in the book of Psalms and three times
in Habakkuk
3 (part of a psalm preserved there).

Verse 5: Healing from illness came only after acknowledgement of sin.
[
NOAB]

Verses 6-10: These verses can also be interpreted as the psalmist commending
to the congregation similar faith in God (vv.
6-7,
10) and obedience to God’s will (vv.
8,
9). [
NOAB]

Verse 11: Psalm
31, another psalm that is mostly on the lips of an individual, also ends with
directing attention to the congregation, calling on them to praise God:
31:23-24 says “Love the Lord
, all you his saints. The Lord preserves
the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. Be strong, and let
your heart take courage, all you who wait for the
Lord”. [
NJBC]

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Verse 13: “if we are beside ourselves”: If we are insane (as
some think). Perhaps Paul’s opponents claimed that religious ecstasy validated
their ministry [
NJBC] or that they accused him of madness because of his doctrine and zeal. [
JBC]

Verse 14: “love of Christ”: On Christ as the model of authentic
existence (v.
15), Paul writes in Galatians
2:20: “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And
the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me” and in Romans
8:35-38 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? ... I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, ... nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
[
NJBC]

Verse 14: The prerequisite for being Christian is death to all that is
hostile to God. In Romans
8:13, Paul writes: “... if you live according to the flesh, you will die;
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”.
[
NJBC]

Verse 14: “all have died”: i.e. live no longer for themselves
but for God. [
NOAB]

Verse 15: The new life is described in
4:10-12. See Galatians
2:20 (quoted above). [
NJBC]

Verse 16: “from a human point of view”: For the by worldly
standards interpretation, see also 1 Corinthians
1:26: “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were
wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth”.
Another interpretation is: humanity in its weakness, temporality and inclination
for self-seeking: in Romans
8:4-5,
12; Galatians
4:23,
29 (the allegory of Hagar and Sarah). As a Pharisee, Paul had judged Christ falsely
because of his uncritical acceptance of current Jewish opinion. [
NJBC]

Verse 17: “anyone is in Christ”: On the believing community
as Christ, Paul asks, probably rhetorically, in 1 Corinthians
6:15: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?”.
See also 1 Corinthians
8:12;
12:12. [
NJBC]

Verse 17: “there is”: This is missing from the Greek; “he
is” is also possible. This would mean that Christ is the new creation. If Paul
intended “there is”, the “new creation” is like the new,
transformed Jerusalem described in 1 Enoch 72:1-2 The old order, the relationship to God found in
the Old Testament, has been replaced by the new. Lived acceptance of the new way
of being human, as exemplified by Christ, is a radical change. [
NJBC]

Verse 17: “a new creation”: In
apocalyptic Judaism (see 1 Enoch 72:1-2; 2 Baruch 32:6; Jubilees 4:26; 1QS 4:25) the “new creation” inaugurated the
end-times. 1QS (*Qumran Rule of the Community) 4:25 says: “For God has
sorted them into equal parts until the appointed end and the new creation. ...”
although one scholar translates new creation as making of the new.
[
NJBC] Life in Christ is the new sphere of existence, a totally transformed way
of looking at life and the world, into which one enters through trusting in Christ.
[
CAB]

Verse 18: “has given us the ministry of reconciliation”: See
Acts
9:4-6 (Paul’s conversion);
22:10 (Paul recalls his conversion to the council in Jerusalem);
26:15-18 (before Agrippa). [
JBC]

Verse 18: “reconciled”: Pauls says in Romans
5:10: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through
the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved
by his life”. Colossians
1:20 says: “through him [Christ] God was pleased to reconcile to himself
all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his
cross”. [
NJBC]

Verse 19: “world”: Unlike in John, for Paul “world”
does not have a pejorative connotation. [
JBC]

Verse 19: “was reconciling”: The use of the imperfect shows
that the process of reconciliation is considered as taking place throughout Jesus’
earthly life. See also Romans
5:10-11. On the other hand, “entrusting” is in the
aorist, so Paul was entrusted at a particular point in time. [
JBC]

Verse 20: “ambassadors for Christ”: While the word ambassador
seems to be a very suitable description of Paul’s role and work, he generally
avoids the term in his letters because it suggests a position of privilege and immunity
(which he did not enjoy). He uses his authority sparingly: in Philemon
8-9 he writes to the master of the slave Onesimus: “though I am bold enough
in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the
basis of love” and in Ephesians
6:20, he (or a follower writing in his name) says “I am an ambassador in
chains”. [
Blk2Cor] In 1 Corinthians
1:17, he tells the Christians at Corinth that God sent him to “proclaim
the gospel” in ways that could be understood by many (“not with eloquent
wisdom”) while avoiding over-simplifying the message to the point of distorting
it (“that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power”).

Verse 21: “to be sin”: Galatians
3:13 says “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse
for us”. Perhaps “to be sin” means to be sin offering. Romans
8:3 says, in part, “in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin”;
Isaiah
53:10 speaks of “an offering for sin”. [
NOAB] God took the initiative in “reconciling the world to himself”
(v.
19) by placing the wholly obedient Jesus under the power of sin so that through
him sinful humans might come into right relationship with God. [
CAB]

Verse 21: “in him”: The Greek can also be translated as
by him. [
JBC]

Verse 21: “the righteousness of God”: It originates in the
divine nature (see Romans
3:5) acting to effect pardon or acceptance with God, a relationship that we do
not achieve, but which is God’s gift. In Romans
1:17, Paul writes “For in it [the good news] the righteousness of God is
revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous
will live by faith’” (where “righteousness”, Greek dikaiosyne
, is better translated uprightness). [
NOAB]

Verses 1-32: God’s mercy is as foolish as a shepherd who
abandons 99 sheep to save one, as a woman who turns her house upside down to recover
a paltry sum (but see Clipping on v.
8), and as a Jewish father who joyfully welcomes home his wastrel son who has
become a Gentile. [
NJBC]

Verse 1: “tax collectors and sinners”:
5:30 tells us: “The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his
disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’”.
See also
7:34. [
JBC]

Verses 4-7: The Parable of the Lost Sheep illustrates God’s concern
for those who lack the ability to find him: he seeks them. [
NOAB] Jesus’ audience knew that a lost sheep simply lies down and will
not budge. Matthew
18:12-14 is a possible parallel, but it lacks “he calls together his friends
and neighbours”.

Verses 8-10: The Parable of the Lost Coin intensifies the picture of human
helplessness and divine concern. [
NOAB] A Palestinian house had a door and no windows. The woman “does not
light a lamp”; she hopes to hear the coin tinkle.

Verse 8: “silver coins”: The Greek word is drachmas
. A drachma was a day’s wage for a labourer. [
NOAB]

Verses 12-32: This parable plays on the hearers’ knowledge of two-brother
stories, in which the younger brother triumphs over the older brother(s). Two examples
are Esau and Jacob (Genesis
25:27-34;
27:1-26) and Joseph and his brothers (Genesis
37:1-4). Jesus doubly reverses expectations:

the prodigal son is a parody of the successful younger brother, and

the elder brother is not vanquished, but invited to the feast. [
NJBC]

Verse 12: A father could abdicate before his death
and divide his wealth: see 1 Kings
1-2 (David) and Sirach
33:19-23. [
JBC] The elder son received twice as much as the younger: see Deuteronomy
21:17. [
NOAB]

Verse 13: “dissolute living”: See v.
30 for the elder son’s story about the younger son’s activities.
[
JBC]

Verse 22: Jesus’ hearers would have recalled the story in Genesis
41, especially v. 42
: “Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph's hand;
he arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck”.
[
JBC] A “robe” was a festal garment. A “ring” was a symbol
of authority. Only free people (not slaves) wore “sandals”; slaves went
bare-foot. [
NOAB]

Verse 24: “was dead and is alive again”: See also Ephesians
2:1-5 (“... God, ... out of the great love with which he loved us even
when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ...”)
and Luke
9:60. [
NOAB]

Verses 29-30: The elder son omits the polite address, “Father”,
which the younger son uses in v.
21. [
JBC] Further, he cannot bring himself to acknowledge the younger son as his brother:
he calls him “this son of yours”. [
NJBC]

Verse 32: “was dead and has come to life”: This makes one
think of Jesus’ passion and resurrection. although it may be a reference to
Abraham’s (almost) sacrifice of Isaac. Jesus, by his union with human nature,
has become the wayward son! [
JBC]